WELCOME TO FAMILY HISTORY

Family history is more than merely a family tree.

Each name raises a hundred questions. Where did they live? How did they support themselves? How did they worship? What did they look like? What historical events were occurring around them?

My service aims to provide a family tree and to tell the story of the family in a historical context.

Typically my Family History Product comprises three components:

• A family tree – stored on-line, with attached relevant documentation (Census returns, BMD records, Photos, Military records etc)

• A Display Tree, suitable for framing and display

• A narrative history.

Some examples of previous Family Histories are attached.

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In the case of this illustrated example the Display Tree is supported by on-line trees containing 508 people and supported by 225 photos and 1639 records. These on-line trees can be expanded by the family as required.

A couple of caveats are necessary:

We all want to uncover descent from Royalty or a family castle or a famous ancestor. We would all like to think that great-great uncle Edward won the battle of Gettysburg single-handed. Some of us indeed will find some of these things. All of us will find a great deal that we did not know or suspect.

Building a Family History depends on finding records, and records can be elusive and patchy. In some (relatively rare) cases it is possible to get back to medieval times. In other cases the reliable story may extend back only 100 years.

I will consult many sources including census records, parish BMD records, directories, newspaper archives, tithe maps and, where appropriate, medieval monastic records, pipe rolls and the like.

As a matter of policy I look to avoid rehashing the lives of living people or events within living memory – at least without the explicit consent of the individuals concerned.

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What does it cost?

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I'll give you an exact price when I understand your requirements, but figure on about £400. Note that in (rare) cases the trail can be impossible to find. This can happen, for example, in cases of adoption or illegitimate birth or change of name. If this happens I'll charge a nominal fee of £50 and will refund any balance in excess of that.

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How is it payable?

50% with your order and the balance on delivery of the finished product.

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How to get started?

Contact me with details of a known deceased ancestor and I'll take it from there. Perhaps you know the full name and date of death of a deceased grand-parent and the name of their spouse. Exact information simplifies things but even a rough guess is usually enough.

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If you know that your maternal grandfather was George Herbert Townsend born 12 Feb 1909 and died 7 Aug 1972 in Atlanta Georgia who married Felicity Brompton in 1933, then that's great. But even If you only know that he was George Townsend and that he died in the early 1970's in Georgia and that his wife Felicity survived him, that will usually be enough.

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